Poems (Hoffman)/My Choice
MY CHOICE
Go revel in banquet, and dress, and wine,In worldly pleasures without restraint,Be triumphs of beauty and splendor thine,Be this thy choice, but it is not mineAs I kneel at the grave of my little saint.I would rather pass like my little MayWith a victor's tread through the gates of day,With a song of faith and an angel's smile,Than be queen of the world for a little while.
I see not the coffin that holds her dust,The grave where she slumbers is left below,As borne on the wings of her Christian trustTo the land where she liveth my glad thoughts go;I shall see her again, for she is not dead,"I will wait in Heaven 'till you come," she said.